Suspended platform multi-storey garage



July 11, 1967 E. JAULMES 3,330,083

SUSPENDED PLATFORM MULTI-STOREY GARAGE Filed April 17, 1964 5Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Fwd Jam/5s A/A/PL [6477/ ATTORNEY July 11, 1967Filed April 1 JAULMES SUSPENDED PLATFORM MULTI-STOREY GARAGE 5Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR flf 1677- ATTORN EY July 11, 1967 E. JAU MEQ3,330,083

SUSPENDED PLATFORM MULTI-STOREY GARAGE Filed April 17, 1964 5Sheets-Shed 3 INVENTOR f/P/d Jkuauzs A4124 P474 ATTORNEY July 11, 1967E. JAULMES 3,330,033

SUSPENDED PLATFORM MULTISTOREY GARAGE Filed April 17, 1964 5Sheets-Sheet 4 Z2 INVENTOR MFA P47 ATTOR N EY July 11, 1967 E. JAULMES3,330,083

SUSPENDED PLATFORM MULTI-STOREY GARAGE Filed April 17, 1964 5Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR EF/c (/72044455 BY A IfiL 164T ATTORNEY UnitedStates Patent 3,330,083 SUSPENDED PLATFORM MULTI-STOREY GARAGE EricJaulmes, Paris, France, assignor to Ateliers de la Motobecane, Pantin,Seine, France, a corporation of France Filed Apr. 17, 1964, Ser. No.360,664 Claims priority, application France, June 14, 1963, 938,080 9Claims. (Cl. 52-174) The present invention relates to a multi-storeysilo or high rise garage for automotive vehicles, the main object of theinvention being the provision of an improved construction of a garage ofthis type, in such a way that the occupation of ground, the weight ofthe superstructure and foundations and, in consequence, the total priceof the installation, including site plus building, related to a unit ofvehicle housed, are reduced to a minimum.

A more specific object of the invention is the provision of means inconnection with a garage of this type to reserve a maximum proportion ofthe interior space for vehicles to be housed and, for this purpose, toutilize supporting structures belonging substantially to the exteriorwalls of the garage building.

With these general objects in view, the garage according to theinvention comprises essentially two identical first portal frames,hereinafter referred to as the central portals, disposed parallel andsymmetrically, with respect to the longitudinal axis of the building, ata certain distance from one another, so as to constitute at the sametime the cage and the guiding means of a loading elevator which occupiesall the central part of the building and serves to provide the serviceto various storeys or levels of the garage, and two further portalframes, hereinafter referred to as facade portals, placed parallel andsymmetrically on one side and the other of the central portals, outsidethe latter, the distance separating each of the facade portals from thecorresponding central portal being a function of the length given to thestorage spaces or cells of the garage, said length being, in turn, afunction of the maximum length of the vehicles to be housed.

Still according to the invention, vertical suspension cables, arrangedin four parallel sheets corresponding to the four portals in question,are fixed at their upper ends to the transverse members of each of thefour portals, and anchored at their lower ends to the foundation of thebuilding. The tensioning of each of these cables may be provided by aresilient device adapted to compensate for thermal expansion andconnected between the lower termination of the cables and suitable staysfixed to the foundation.

Still according to the invention, each of the four sheets of suspensioncables is completed by two metal vertical strips or rails located at theends of and situated in the plane of the sheet, and fixed to the postsof the portal to which the sheet belongs. The floors of each storagecell, all identical and interchangeable, are suspended from said cablesvia vertical hangers which transfer the points of attachment of thefloors substantially above their level.

The particular construction and geometry of the storage cells, adoptedaccording to the invention, and based on the observation of the natureitself of the loads (the latter being always concentrated at the edge ofthe individual floors of the cells) aims at transforming the verticalforces transmitted by the four wheels of the vehicle into horizontalcomponents of tension acting in the plane of the floor itself andrelieving the latter of almost all the transverse bending forces, insuch a manner as to permit of a considerable lightening of the structureof the floors.

3,330,083 Patented July 11, 1967 The practical consequences of such anarrangement are substantial. In the first place, the floors of thecells, being relieved of the transverse flexing forces, may be of theminimum thickness compatible with the tensile forces, whence optimum useof the internal volume of the garage, saving of Weight, and economy. Inthe second place, so far as concerns the vertical loads, each floor of acell functions independently of the others, in that no force istransmitted from the floors of adjacent cells and the removal, from oneside or the other of a cell, of the adjacent floors does not modify atall the distribution and the magnitude of the vertical loads applied tothe floor. This facilitates the exchange, or repairing of any floorwithout affecting the characteristics of loading of the floors of boththe same and the other storeys of the garage.

Still according to the invention, the horizontal forces acting on thelevel of the floors in the direction of the longitudinal axis of eachcell of the garage and resulting particularly from the operations ofloading and unloading of vehicles, are taken up by the anchoring of thetwo extreme or outer fiOOrs of the same storey in the fixed verticalrails or strips of the portals of the building. These mountings providedat the level of the floors without hangers produce in the horizontalplane a rigid encastering or anchoring of the two extremities of thestorey considered, thus ensuring its stability.

Moreover, the invention permits all the storeys of the garage to beerected Step by step expeditiously and by consequence very economically,without requiring the use of heavy lifting devices (the loading elevatormay serve for these purposes) and without intervention of specialistoperations, after completed erection of the main frame and weatherproofing of the building.

The invention also introduces two interesting possibilities. In thefirst place, with each storey of the garage being fastened to orsuspended from the intermediate cables by means of mounting rings or thelike, and in the end rails by means of brackets, the height of thestoreys may be modified at will, even after completion of the mainframe, that is to say that a building of given height may contain avariable number of storeys. With the construction of private carsevolving towards forms which are lower and lower, the overall height ofthese vehicles is in constant decline. A garage constructed according tothe present invention permits this evolution to be followed with thestorage capacity increasing as a consequence of the reduction of theheight of its storeys, and without it being necessary to modify in anyway the main frame or structure of the building. This capacity will be amaximum if the garage is designed to receive only private cars, andespecially those which are collapible in the vertical direction asdescribed in greater detail in my copending patent application Ser. No;354,565, entitled Collapsible Vehicle and filed on Mar. 25, 1964, nowUS. Patent No. 3,278,221. It will be further understood in this respectthat, since the service personnel do not have to enter the cells, theheight of the cells may be reduced, without inconvenience to the fullextent permitted by the overall dimension of the vehicles to be housed.

In the second place, the spectacular increase of parking of utilityvehicles (light vans, vans with metal or canvas bodies) raises atpresent, and will raise still more in the future, a grave problem bothfor the architect and the operator of a silo or multi-storey garage. Infact, the overall height of the majority of utility vehicles is verynotably greater than that of private cars. Under these conditions,either the architect must provide, from the beginning, a distancebetween storeys permitting him to receive utility vehicles in all of thestorage cells, which leads to a poor 3. utilization of the internalvolume of the garage with private cars remaining nevertheless in themajority or,

' by simple 'dismounting of individual floors, as many cells of height2P which might be necessary for housing utility vehicles without havingto make essential structural changes or to modify the programming of theloading elevator.

The invention, both as to the foregoing and auxiliary objects as well asnovel aspects thereof, will be better understood from the followingdetailed description of a preferred embodiment, taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification and inwhich:

FIG, 1 is a schematic perspective View of a multistorey garageconstructed in accordance'with the principles of the invention; 7

FIG. 2 is a view of the garage of FIG. 1 in vertical transverse section;

FIG. 3 shows in vertical transverse section the floor of an intermediatestorage cell of the garage;

FIG. 4 shows in perspective, one of the two extrem or terminal cells ofa storey;

FIG. 4(a) shows an enlargement of the rail-mounting bracket jointconstruction.

I FIG. 5 shows in elevation the particular construction of the floor ofa cell made of a material having a high coefficient of thermalexpansion;

FIG. 6 is a section taken on line VII-VII in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the subject of FIG. 5; 7

FIGS. 8 and 9 are detailed views on a largerscale corresponding,respectively, to FIGS. 5 and 6;

FIG. 10 shows more particularly the means of collecting and disposing ofthe oil and of the water drips coming from the stored vehicles; and

FIG. 11 is a'diagram showing the device provided in the case of removalof one floor cell floor to create storage cells of double height.

Like reference characters denote like parts throughout the differentviews of the. drawings.

In considering first of all FIGS. 1 and 2, it will be seen that,according to the invention, and to leave free as far as possible theinterior space of the garage, its load bearing structure is essentiallyconstituted by the two central frames or portals 1, 2 and by the twofacade frames .or portals 3, 4. For greater clarity, the details of thebracings and other auxiliary members of themetal frames are not shown,since they are well known and do not form any part of the invention. e

'The two central portals 1, 2 have between them a spacing 5 whichcorresponds to the width of the platform of the loading elevator 6. Themachinery of the latter may be housed in a cabin carried by the topfloor 7 which con-' nects together the two central portals 1, 2. If theloading elevator has a single, that is, vertical component of movement,its platform is of a length'equal to the width of the central portals.On the other hand, if the loading elevator has two components ofmovement that is, both vertical and horizontal, the floor 7 carries theguiding rails for its power and drive mechanism, the length of itsplatform or v platforms being in this case equal to the width of onecell of the garage, of which the width is indicated at 9,

the depth at 10 and the height at 1 1.

The lateral walls of the cage of the loading elevator are arranged tocarry if r equired the guides of counter- 'if the height chosencorresponds to private cars, use of the garage will be forbiddentoutility vehicles. The inweights, and may include windows providingnatural light to the cage.

Two facade portals 3 and 4 are connected to the corresponding centralportals 1 or 2 by the roofing framework 14, at their upper end, andaflixed to their uprights, as well as on those of the central portals 1and 2, are fixed floor supporting or anchoring rails which are describedlater.

According to the invention, vertical suspension cables 18 are stretchedin the plane of thecentral portals 1, 2 and in that of the facadeportals 3, 4, these cables being fixed at their upper ends 19 to thecross members 23, 21 of the portals by any appropriate means (hoops,blocks, stays, etc.) and being conveniently anchored at their lower endsto the foundation of the building, via resilient devices compensatingfor expansion (not shown), to maintain their initial tensioning. The.number of cables constituting each of the four sheets thus formed is afunction of the number of cells of the garage on each storey.

According to another characteristic of the invention, each of the foursheets of suspension cables 18 is completed by two metal verticalexterior strips or rails 22, placed in the plane of the sheet, andafiixed to the upright Apart from this, the floors of the intermediatecells and those of the end cells are identical, so as to beinterchangeable with each other.

The general arrangement of the garage having thus been described, therewill now be described, with reference to FIG. 3 and following, theconstruction of each of the cell floors serving to support the vehiclesto be housed. More specifically, there are shown in FIG. 3 twoconsecutive cables 18 and two hangers 24 by means of which the floor 23of the cell is suspended from the cables, the hangers including forexample, for that purpose, gripping rings or collars 26.

As has been mentioned hereinbefore, the loads transmitted by the wheelsof the stored vehicle are concentrated at the edge of the floor. Thanksto the presence of the hangers 24 of height L, the upright load of eachwheel, indicated by P and applied at the distance I from each cable,produces a horizontal tension component T in the floor 23, acting in theplane of the floor itself and relieving it of almost the whole of thetransverse flexing loads, with the advantages explained above.

To the hangers 24, preferably made in pressed or folded sheet steel,there are rigidly afiixed longitudinal beams.

28, preferably of triangular section, both for achieving an economy inweight and for conveniently constituting a guide for the wheels of thevehicle being displaced in the cell. Each beam 28, of length equal tothe depth of the cell, forms a horizontal ledge 29 -to which is fixed,for

example by bolts 30, the floor 23 proper of thin pressed and ribbedmetal, forming at the same time a channel or gutter for removing oil,water, and dirty liquid coming i from the vehicles stored. FIG. 4 showsclearly that each floor forms for this pur pose, an internal traysurrounded by a border 32 ensuring in addition the internal guiding ofthe wheels of the vehicle. This border is interrupted at 33 at the outerend of the floor, where the tray 31 forms a discharge chute or ramp forthe oil. Two other lateral ramps 34, FIG. 10, provide for the removal ofthe water collected between the borders 32 and the beams 28, thewaterand oil coming from the ramps 33 and 34 being collected by a gutter 36belonging to each floor, and which itself discharges into a verticalcollecting pipe 37 leading to the storey irnmediately below and thus,step by step, to a general discharging conduit. This discharge isfacilitated'by the slight slope given to all the'floors, asshown inFIG.2, to ensure the natural stability of the vehicles bearing'against theabutments 38.

In referring now to FIG. 4, which shows the floor of an end cell, fixedon one side to cables 18 via hangers 24, and on the other side to rails22 by means of brackets 40 it will be seen that, in the garageconstructed according to the invention, the horizontal forces beingexerted at the level of the floors 23, along the longitudinal axis ofeach cell of the garage, and due particularly to the shock of thevehicle against the abutments 28 fixed to the floor, on its entry intothe cell, are transmitted to the rails 22, by the bolts 41 of thebrackets 43, and in consequence absorbed by the uprights of the portals.These brackets, placed at the level of the floor, provide a rigidanchoring in the horizontal plane of the two lateral extremities of thefloor being considered to the extent that, with the forces being passedstep by step from one floor to another and to the extremities of eachstorey, these floors have been correctly pressed and ribbed, so as tooppose local bending and yielding. It will be seen that the pressings,ridges or stiffening borders of the floors acting as gutters and locatedinside the tracks of the wheels of the vehicle, do not reduce theusable, height of the cell. They simply reduce slightly the groundclearance without inconvenience.

In the case in which the floors may be constructed of a materialpossessing a high coefficient of thermal expansion, for example a lightalloy liable to give rise, in the construction, to inadmissablestresses, during large variations in temperature, if no means wereprovided to absorb the same, there is provided the particular deviceshown in FIGS. to 9. The fixing of at least one of the end floors of astorey in the rails 22 is not directly achieved by the brackets providedon the level of the floor as previously, but instead via special hangersor levers 40 of which the pivot axis 41, fixed in the rail 22 by abracket, is substantially at the level of the gripping collars 26 of thecorresponding normal hangers 24, at the other side of the floor '23. Thelevers 40 each form at their lower end a lip 42 guided between twoparallel lugs 43 or prongs of a fork-like member likewise fixed bybrackets on the rails 22. The corresponding beam28 of the floor 23 isfixed on a cantilever bracket 44 belonging to the hanger 40. Anytransverse expansions of all the floors of the same storey, added to oneanother, and transmitted step by step, will thus be absorbed by theexternal hangers 40, which will take up a certain inclination, indicatedin broken lines in FIG. 6. As to longitudinal horizontal expansions,these are absorbed by the play provided between the lip 42 and itsguiding lugs 43 which transmit to the rails the longitudinal horizontalforces.

FIG. ll show finally the means by which, according to the invention, thespacing between successive storeys, determined from a consideration ofthe overall vertical dimension of private cars, may be doubled incertain cells, or in certain groups of cells to permit them to receiveutility vehicles of greater height. After removal of the floor 23 andits beams 28, four bars 45, for example channel bars, extending throughthe whole height of the double cell thus produced, are bolted at theirextremities to the beams 28 of the storey immediately above and of thestorey immediately below. At the level of the omitted floor, the beams28 are replaced by simple transverse members 46 connecting the twocorresponding vertical bars 45. The cell of double height thus stiffenedtransmits the horizontal longitudinal stresses resulting from theeffects of inertia, on the loading of vehicles, as far as the storeysimmediately above and below, and through them, to the end rails, that isto say to the load-bearing structure.

Apart from the advantages of a constructional, technical, and economicnature which are presented by a garage constructed according to theinvention, the absence from this construction of any internal verticalmember of substantial cross section, as well as the absence of anyintermediate partition, ensure to the operating staff the completevisibility of the whole of the cells of each storey,

and of the greater part of the cells belonging to adjacent storeys,facilitating in this way the operation, and permitting the easy andrapid choice of unoccupied cells, if a system of remote signalsincluding a chart at the control point is not used.

While there has been described in the foregoing a garage constructionaccording to the invention comprising a central elevator section and apair of outer storage sections on either side of said elevator section,it will be understood that only one of the storage sections may beprovided fitted with a multiplicity of car-supporting platforms asstorage cells, with the remaining storage section being either omittedor replaced by a different utility, office or the like space.

In the foregoing, the invention has been described in reference to aspecific illustrative construction. It will be understood, however, thatvariations and modifications, as well as the substitution of equivalentparts and elements for those shown for illustration, may be made withoutdeparting from the broader scope and spirit of the invention as definedin the appended claims. The specification and drawings are accordinglyto be regarded in an illustrative rather than in a restrictive sense.

I claim:

1. A multi-storey vehicle garage comprising in combination:

(1) a pair of interior vertical and parallel frames inclosing a space toserve as the cage for a loading elevator,

(2) a pair of exterior vertical frames similar to and arranged paralleland in spaced relation to the outer sides of said interior frames, toprovide a pair of vehicle storage spaces on either side of said cage,

(3) the spacing distance between said interior and exterior framescorresponding substantially to the length of the vehicles to be stored,

(4) sets of spaced vertical suspension cables with the cables of eachset disposed in a common plane and mounted in stretched condition in oneof said frames,

(5) the cables of each of said sets being spaced from each' tbther by adistance substantially corresponding to the width of the vehicles to bestored,

(6) a multiplicity of horizontal rectangular supporting platformssubstantially conforming to the size of the vehicles to be stored, and

(7) vertical suspension hangers having one end secured to and extendingupwardly from the corners of said platforms and having their oppositeends secured to the adjoining cables of said frames,

(8) whereby to provide a multi-storage garage including a predeterminednumber of vehicle storage cells with each storey thereof being comprisedof rows of discrete juxtaposed supporting platforms on the oppositesides of said cage.

2. In a multi-storey garage as claimed in claim 1, each of said framescomprising a pair of vertical posts joined at least at their upper endsby cross members, and the outer platforms of each of said rows beingsuspended on one side from the adjoining cables and being anchored ontheir opposite sides to the vertical posts of said frames.

3. In a multi-storey garage as claimed in claim 1, each of said framescomprising a pair of vertical posts joined at least at their upper endsby cross members, vertical supporting rails afiixed to said posts, theouter platforms of each of said rows being suspended at their innercorners from the adjoining cables, and means anchoring the oppositecorners of said outer platforms to raid rails.

4. In a multi-storey garage as claimed in claim 3, wherein each platformis comprised of a panel of sheet metal and a pair of longitudinal beamssupporting said panel with one of said beams being suspended from theadjoining cables and with the other beam being secured to the adjoiningrails.

5. In a multi-storey garage as claimed in claim 3, said 7 anchoringmeans embodying means to allow for thermal expansion and contraction ofsaid platforms in both longitudinal and transverse directions.

6. In a multi-storey garage as claimed in claim 5, said last meanscomprising a forlelike member having a pair of spaced prongs afiixedto'the adjoining rails, and a suspension lever pivoted tosaid rail at apoint above said member and having its lower end embraced by said prongsand aflixed to the adjoining platform.

7. In a multi-storey garage as claimed in claim 3, the panels of saidplatforms forming trays surrounded by a border, to provide for guidanceof the Wheels of the vehicles being stored. V V 1 8. In a multi-storeygarage as claimed in claim 3, wherein each of said platforms is composedof sheet metal forming a tray, and a discharge gutter adjoining each rowof platforms, to collect and convey oil and/ or water coming from thestored vehicles to said gutter.

9. In a multi-storey garage as claimed in claim 8, the platforms of eachrow being inclined towards the outside of the garage, to facilitatetheoil and/or water collection and discharge. v

Engineering News Record TA 20 22 relied on.

Canaday 214-1618 Fiorini 5273 Sagalovitch 52-745 Bijlevelt 52-745 Ausman248-317 FOREIGN PATENTS France.

France. Great Britain. Great Britain. Italy.

Italy.

Italy.

OTHER REFERENCES 1, E61, Aug. 2, 1962, page FRANK L. ABBOTT, PrimaryExaminer.

R. A. STENZEL, Assistant Examiner.

1. A MULTI-STOREY VEHICLE GARAGE COMPRISING IN COMBINATION: (1) A PAIROF INTERIOR VERTICAL AND PARALLEL FRAMES INCLOSING A SPACE TO SERVE ASTHE CAGE FOR A LOADING ELEVATOR, (2) A PAIR OF EXTERIOR VERTICAL FRAMESSIMILAR TO AND ARRANGED PARALLEL AND IN SPACED RELATION TO THE OUTERSIDES OF SAID INTERIOR FRAMES, TO PROVIDE A PAIR OF VEHICLE STORAGESPACES ON EITHER SIDE OF SAID CAGE, (3) THE SPACING DISTANCE BETWEENSAID INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR FRAMES CORRESPONDING SUBSTANTIALLY TO THELENGTH OF THE VEHICLES TO BE STORED, (4) SETS OF SPACED VERTICALSUSPENSION CABLES WITH THE CABLES OF EACH SET DISPOSED IN A COMMON PLANEAND MOUNTED IN STRETCHED CONDITION IN ONE OF SAID FRAMES, (5) THE CABLESOF EACH OF SAID SETS BEING SPACED FROM EACH OTHER BY A DISTANCESUBSTANTIALLY CORRESPONDING TO THE WIDTH OF THE VEHICLES TO BE STORED,(6) A MULTIPLICITY OF HORIZONTAL RECTANGULAR SUPPORTING PLATFORMSSUBSTANTIALLY CONFORMING TO THE SIZE OF THE VEHICLES TO BE STORED, AND(7) VERTICAL SUSPENSION HANGERS HAVING ONE END SECURED TO AND EXTENDINGUPWARDLY FROM THE CORNERS OF SAID PLATFORMS AND HAVING THEIR OPPOSITEENDS SECURED TO THE ADJOINING CABLES OF SAID FRAMES, (8) WHEREBY TOPROVIDE A MULTI-STORAGE GARAGE INCLUDING A PREDETERMINED NUMBER OFVEHICLE STORAGE CELLS WITH EACH STOREY THEREOF BEING COMPRISED OF ROWSOF DISCRETE JUXTAPOSED SUPPORTING PLATFORMS ON THE OPPOSITE SIDES OFSAID CAGE.